Fine art & photography for every wall

Marina Zavalova

I always believed that women can do "big art" not just crafts, and all my life I tried to prove it.

I started to paint for my high school theater at age 16. We traveled across Russia with plays, trying to bring the arts to remote areas. We were very young, 16-18 years old, and we saw interest and great appreciation for what we were doing from hard working people, collective farm workers and their families. The great impact that had on me combined with the beauty of nature pushed me to study art professionally and...

My Story

I always believed that women can do "big art" not just crafts, and all my life I tried to prove it.

I started to paint for my high school theater at age 16. We traveled across Russia with plays, trying to bring the arts to remote areas. We were very young, 16-18 years old, and we saw interest and great appreciation for what we were doing from hard working people, collective farm workers and their families. The great impact that had on me combined with the beauty of nature pushed me to study art professionally and become an artist. My father, a professional artist, helped me on this journey.

I graduated in 1985 from the Art Academy in Moscow, Russia with a Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Art. Besides numerous exhibits I also participated in church restoration in Moscow, being the only woman on the team.

I emigrated to the United States in 1990 for political reasons with my husband Vladimir (also an artist) and my 3 children. By 1993 I had my art in galleries across the USA, and began teaching classes and workshops.

Biography

Born in Moscow, Russia, she became an impressionist landscape and still life painter of highly colorful scenes with bold application of paint.

She first studied drawing from her father who was a painter and commercial artist and inspired her to love art. As a high school student participating in theater, where she designed and organized sets, she had the opportunity to travel throughout Russia and see much beautiful landscape, which stirred her interest in landscape painting. She was also greatly influenced by the art of Konstantin Korovin, a Russian impressionist artist.

In 1981 she graduated from the Moscow Textile Institute, where she studied under Alexander Dubinchik, with a Master's Degree in Art.

In 1990 Marina emigrated to the United States, and by 1993 her professional career as an artist was in full swing. She began showing her work in art galleries across the U.S., teaching classes, hosting workshops and has never looked back since.

Her works can be found in exhibitions, shows and workshops in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New York, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming as well as the collection of the Moscow Museum of Folk Art. Some of her work is published by Bentley House in the form of art prints.

Marina's experience ranges from participation in oil painting, watercolor, and textile exhibitions as well as mural painting and restoration work in Russian Orthodox churches, textile design for clothing and commercial work for the theater.